Yesterday was Labor Day in America, but the real work was going on in England. The buying and selling was reminiscent of Wall Street, and while a number of big names moved, the biggest shock was the sale of Manchester City. Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahid is the head of the Abu Dhabi United Group(ADUG), who have either purchased or are close to purchasing(depends who you believe) Man City. This means that Thaksin Shinawatra now has enough money to last him the rest of his life in England, but it also meant that Chelsea are no longer the richest club in England. And City put that wealth to use by bidding on David Villa, Mario Gomez, Dimitar Berbatov and Robinho. Their bid for Berbatov was accepted, but the player demurred. Robinho did not, and the Brazilian will be playing in the Premiership for City and not Chelsea. Apparently £32.5 million was too much for Abramovich, who mustn't be able to remember the last time someone outbid him. Watching the news unfold yesterday was like some sort of bizarre fantasy league. Every big name was bandied about, and the sums of money attached would have bought you a team just a few years ago. Already Al-Fahid has said that he is preparing a £135 million bid for Ronaldo. The blue half of Manchester is praising capitalism and filling their cars to the brim with petrol(gas).
There is another team in Manchester(that made me laugh) and Man U made their long awaited move for Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian cost £30.75 million, and also included a loan move for Frazier Campbell to Tottenham. Tottenham took some of that money and bought Vedran Corluka from Man City. City took that money and used it to light a cigar. Liverpool bought Riera, sold Finnan and loaned Voronin. West Ham continued their policy of selling defenders to Sunderland and sent McCartney to join Ferdinand. David Moyes spent £15 million on a midfielder named Marouane Fellaini in a move that screams panic buy, and also secured Saha. Newcastle purchased Xisco, who comes in second place for the coolest transfer name to Danny Higginbotham, who went from Sunderland to Stoke. West Ham also bought two players after the transfer deadline, which really makes me wonder what's the point of a transfer deadline. Outside of England Quaresma went to Inter, Diego Milito went to Genoa and no teams were bought by Middle East billionaires.
So right now you're saying that's it for the day, there can't be any more news(you're so foolish). However now there are reports coming from Newcastle(yes my mobile(phone) has been ringing off the hook with calls from Northeast England) that Kevin Keegan has been sacked(fired) or quit. Newcastle are denying any sacking(firing), but Newcastle don't know how to do much but flounder mid-table. King Kev(though it's weird because they already have a royal family in England) as he is affectionately known in Newcastle, was hoping to lead the team to the top of the table. They have a billionaire owner, Michael Owen and a huge fanbase. However, they also have 25 thousand(hyperbole) people in the boardroom deciding who to buy and sell and none of them seem to keep Kevin Keegan informed. Their season started off promisingly with a draw at Man U, but this weekend's game with Arsenal was quite ugly. This would also mean that Curbishley loses(should we call the guy who keeps his job the loser) the sack rack to Keegan, though I'm sure Alan will be on the dole(that thing J.K. Rowling was on before she wrote Harry Potter) shortly.One Liners
- Abramovich asks Putin to invade Abu Dhabi in bid to retain title of wealthiest owner, Putin thinking about it
- Tim Cahill back in training, countdown until his next injury begins
- Mourinho drops Crespo from Champions League, Crespo calls him a dirty name but Mourinho doesn't speak Spanish
- Tottenham chairman Levy calls for transfer window review, isn't this an example of the team that bought and sold the most players calling the kettle black
- Arshavin may move in January, however that is way too long of a saga for this blog to cover and he is officially dead to me
